Broken Facade
by carelessfreedom
Summary: She watched as Annabeth helped her up that there was something new in her eyes; a glimmer of hope, a flash of determination. Rachel knew right then and there that Annabeth would do whatever it took to find Percy—and she was going to succeed. Oneshot!


**Synopsis: Percy's gone. Rachel goes to console Annabeth after it happens.**

Rachel trumped through the woods, wiping the mud that flung up onto the back of her legs. She brushed her fiery red hair out of her face, tucking it behind her right ear.

"Annabeth?" she called out, "Where are you?"

It had been twenty-four hours since Annabeth had come crashing into The Big House panting and choking out "He's gone! Percy's gone!"

Chiron and Rachel had looked everywhere. So had every camper at Camp Half-Blood, but Percy Jackson had disappeared into thin air. That had really shaken up Annabeth. She hadn't slept; she was too busy looking for clues as to where Percy could be. Rachel had even seen her take one of Percy's extra orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt when they had been searching the Poseidon cabin, and bring it to her nose and watched as a tear rolled down her cheek. Rachel had pretended to look around the back of the cabin for clues after that. She knew Annabeth was worried sick and heartbroken, but Rachel also knew that Annabeth's bravado was a façade, and it would only be a matter of time before it broke.

Rachel arrived at a clearing in the woods; one that led to the canoe pier. A girl with blonde princess curls was sitting on the dock's edge, swinging her bare feet into the water and staring blankly out at the Long Island Sound.

She walked down the pier and sat down next to Annabeth, who didn't even acknowledge Rachel's arrival. She was too busy wrapped up in her own thoughts.

"So," Rachel said amiably "Chiron said that Thalia showed up. She's taking her hunters to look for Percy." She looked at Annabeth out of the corner of her eye—nothing. "And, um, Tyson's gone searching, too. He took Mrs. O'Leary out with him. He said she could smell Percy's trail. She might know where he is." Annabeth didn't even flinch.

"Annabeth," Rachel sighed, "We'll find him, OK? Everything's going to be fine."

Finally, Annabeth glanced up at Rachel as if she had finally noticed she was sitting there.

"How can you say that so calmly?" she spat.

_Uh oh,_ Rachel thought.

"How can you act like you know what's going to happen? You don't know that! He could be dead! And we're sitting here with no plan of action while Percy could be dying! You don't know what it's like! You don't know what it's like to kiss someone goodnight and to look into their eyes and promise to see them tomorrow and get up the next day and find that he's gone." Rachel saw for the first time how tired Annabeth actually looked. Her grey eyes were dull, and there were dark circles under her eyes which made her look older than she actually was. For the first time Rachel saw what Annabeth was trying to hide from everyone at camp; she had finally broken apart and shown that she was worried sick about the boy she loved.

Rachel sighed. "Annabeth, if I know anything about Percy it's that he's a fighter. Whatever happened to him, he won't go down without a fight. Especially if he didn't get to see you before he was taken away. He's okay, I can feel it. You'll see him again."

Annabeth's lower lip started trembling, and tears welled up in her eyes. "I hope you're right," she breathed. "I don't know what I'm going to do without him. Gods, that sounds so pathetic."

"No it doesn't! Annabeth I know how much he means to you. It's not pathetic to worry about someone you truly care about."

Annabeth wiped the tears from her face and gave Rachel a small smile. "Thanks," she said, "Thanks for checking on me, too." She stood up and slipped her shoes back on. "Will you come with me to the Big House? I want to ask Chiron a few questions and see if he'll let me go searching for Percy."

"Sure," Rachel replied. She watched as Annabeth helped her up that there was something new in her eyes; a glimmer of hope, a flash of determination. Rachel knew right then and there that Annabeth would do whatever it took to find Percy—and she was going to succeed.


End file.
